Kaiteru knelt before the great shrine to Yoritomo, unmoving now for more than two hours. It was difficult, physically and mentally, to maintain such perfect attentiveness, but a mortal man who ascended to the position of a Kami in the Heavenly Court of Tengoku deserved nothing less. The fact that Kaiteru was now a monk and no longer a member of the Mantis Clan had no bearing. Still, the time for his daily devotion was over, and there were duties he needed to fulfill elsewhere in the Temple. He rose, wincing slightly at the discomfort in his aging knees…then swaying as sudden dizziness gripped him.

The shadows around him deepened. Kaiteru blinked and looked around, his gaze finally settling on the great statue of Yoritomo at the center of the shrine. Another blink, then he recoiled in horror from the visage of sheer evil that had replaced his former Champion’s face. A cry of surprise slipped from Kaiteru’s mouth. And then… all was as it had been, as it had remained from the time of Kaiteru’s entry into the temple.

“What…” he sputtered, glancing around for someone else who might have seen. “What just happened?”

From the forest that overlooked the Shrine to Yoritomo, crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness, and a hoarse chuckle sounded from an inhuman throat.

This isn't a fullfledged fiction, but some nice tidbit fo us Spider and Mantis players, as our clans are involved in Jack Murray's kotei prize choice, the corruption of the Shrine to Yoritomo. I think it's more foreshadowing than a prize, but the piece illustrates something we have been discussing elsewhere. With the risk of sounding unfair because below I'll look at the text as though it was a weekly fiction or Scenes vignette, I'll try to illustrate why this text doesn't make me interested in the character.

We have no Connection to Kaiteru, he is not even a former card as far as I can tell. He's pretty much generic and doesn't make me know more about a former Mantis who is now a Monk (as opposed to Aranai!). It ends with a cliffhanger that might or might not be resolved before Onyx edition.

The most important unanswered questions to me are: Why would Jigoku want the shrine to be corrupted? What is its significance? Granted, for me the Shrine of Yoritomo is no Mantis Icon, so this obviously colours my stance that its significance for Jigoku needs to be explained. Also, what Shadowlands creature or Spider character would have crimson-gleaming eyes? Without knowing that it is Jigoku's corruption from the semi-out-of-character text that announces Jack's choice, I wouldn't really know that the darkness is actually Jigoku. I hope it's one of the Lost, maybe even an oni-summoning Chuda, but we don't know and chances are that the cliffhanhger isn't picked up again soon.

i'd have to believe that Daigotsu would find the idea of corrupting the shrine of the only other mortal to be deified HILARIOUS. its certainly kicking dirt on Yoritomo that he can't even protect his most holy site.

Didn't Yoritomo take over for the Thunder Dragon, symbolizing courage, strength, and all that nonsense? To corrupt his shrine could be seen as an omen that the courage and strength cannot aid mankind in the coming days and be seen as a terrible revelation?

Just kinda sucks that Kuni were still on the table when this was picked, but are now a saved icon. I know all the OOC reasons for the pick, sure. I can never fault someone for their choice and why they might make it. But, this was nowhere on the list of clan goals to taint really. Now it really doesn't matter what gets tainted, as the options that the vast majority of Spider would love to see fall are already protected.

Just kinda sucks that Kuni were still on the table when this was picked, but are now a saved icon. I know all the OOC reasons for the pick, sure. I can never fault someone for their choice and why they might make it. But, this was nowhere on the list of clan goals to taint really. Now it really doesn't matter what gets tainted, as the options that the vast majority of Spider would love to see fall are already protected.

The Kuni Witch Hunters are still targetable from what I understand. The last Crab choice was to save the Ancestral Armor.

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